


The Five Times Damien and Shayne Acted Gay (And One Time They Weren’t Acting)

by CherrieTheFruit



Category: Smosh
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - High School, Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, Teen Angst, Teen Crush, Teen Romance, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2020-05-16 04:56:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19311061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherrieTheFruit/pseuds/CherrieTheFruit
Summary: Damien and Shayne have been friends since sixth grade. They haven’t always loved each other they way they do now though. So this is their origin story, this is how they got here. This is the story of how Damien and Shayne grew up together and were there for each other through the worst of times to the best of times, until the very end of time.





	1. Chapter 1 - A Sleepover

**Author's Note:**

> New story written all by myself! This is my first real multi-chapter Fanfiction and these are all inspired by real events (or are real events)! So thank you to my cohort and participant in all these events for being my best friend, living all these moments out with me, allowing me to use these stories, and helping me write them all out! I love you, Blueberrie <3

12:32 PM  
Dames: hey what are you doing saturday 

SuperShayne: Nothing

Dames: Do you want to sleepover friday night?

SuperShayne: Ill go ask my mom!

—

Friday night, little middle schooler Shayne walked up to little middle schooler Damien’s house with his stuff in his duffel bag he used for sleepovers. He knocked on the door.Damien’s mom answered, Damien standing excitedly behind her. 

“Hey, Shayne!” She greeted as she turned to talk to Shayne’s mom. Shayne moved past her to see Damien. 

“Hey, dude!!” Damien exclaimed excitedly, “Brittney has a friend over too” Shayne looked past Damien and indeed saw Damien’s older sister petting a cat and talking to another girl Shayne didn’t recognize.

“Wait, Dames, I got an idea,” Shayne began with a mischievous grin.

“I like where this is going Shanye,” Damien shot back, only enjoying the nickname a little.

***

And that’s how Shayne and Damien spent the night chasing the two girls through the house as Damien’s mother looked on in- disapproval? Confusion? Who knows?

“Come on guys, it’s time for dinner.” The race through the house paused as everyone took a seat at the table and the family and their +1’s began to eat.

Dinner was awesome and actually enjoyed his banter with Damien at the table. As soon as the boys were done eating they were up and out of their seats, already scheming against the girls again. 

Bedtime came all too soon but the boys really didn’t mind. The protests were all for show. Plotting is tiring job, man. Plus, it was past Shayne’s bedtime anyways. 

The thing was Damien had a full bed, but both the boys were sharing Damien’s bed. Damien’s parents said that the two bean pole preteens would more than fit. Shayne was a guest so he bit his tounge and didn’t argue. Not that he’d ever admit it but even if he wasn’t the guest he wouldn’t really have argued. He wouldn’t particularly mind sharing a bed with Damien. NOT BECAUSE HE LIKED DAMIEN. HE WASN’T GAY. But Damien was better than any of the girls at their school. Not because the girls weren’t cool, Damien was just… better. What? You know what, new thought! It was time for bed and Shayne was tired so he changed in pajamas and climbed into Damien’s bed. 

“Dames?” Shayne called out. At the call, Damien appeared in the doorway with a toothbrush in his mouth and toothpaste foaming around his mouth. Damien gave a mumble that sounded kinda like a ‘wassup?’ Shayne was going to tell him he was just going to go to bed now but Damien was about to come to bed in a moment, so it would just easier to wait. Also the fact Shayne wasn’t really forming words at the moment for some reason. He didn’t know why but he pushed the thought away regardless.

Damien eventually finished brushing his teeth and came into the room, finished getting ready for bed, and turned off the lights as the room fell to a calming darkness. 

The next morning when Shayne woke up, it was bright outside and there was unwelcome light in his eyes from the window next to the bed. He turned away from the window toward the middle of the bed, and (half-asleep) tried to blindly curl around and cuddle the phantom partner on the other side of the bed. After a minute of searching around Shayne stopped abruptly as his eyes flew open. What. Was. He. Doing?!?!? 

He also noticed when he opened his eyes that Damien was nowhere to be found and he was alone in bed. Alone in Damien’s bed, to be specific. In Damien’s room. Shayne was also distantly aware of a vacuum cleaner going off. Shayne laid in bed for a minute, sort of gathering his bearings for a minute, before picking up his phone and looking at the time. 

Turns out it was already noon. 

Shayne eventually got up out of bed and padded out into the main house. There he found Damien’s mom vacuuming and a plate with a fresh cinnamon roll and some fruit left out on the kitchen bar. Damien’s mom finally noticed the blond boy standing there with a blank look on his face. 

“Good morning! Sleep well?” Damien’s mom asked playfully, as she turned off the vacuum for a moment. 

“Oh, um yeah. Where’s Damien?” Shayne responded, his brain still half asleep. 

“He’s out on the porch with the cats,” Damien’s mom pointed to the sliding glass door leading out to the back patio, then went back to vacuuming. 

“K, thanks,” Shayne mumbled as he was drown out by the vacuum again. Shayne had also had a distaste for vacuums. But he walked over and saw Damien sitting out on the porch reading a book, waiting for the cats to finish prowling around the caged in porch. Damien looked up from his book at the sound of the door opening, though, and smiled when he saw Shayne standing there, bleary eyed and still in his pajamas from last night.

“Morning!” Damien chirped brightly. Shayne grunted in response. “You see your breakfast on the counter?” Damien asked, undeterred by Shayne’s unenthusiastic response. Shayne only grunted again. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’,” Damien laughed and thought he saw Shayne let out a little smile too. Damien hopped up out of his chair, set his book on the table and cheerily told Shayne “Do you want to sit down next to me and I’ll go get your plate?” Shayne moved to sit down in the chair next to the chair Damien had been sitting in and Damien took that as a sign of affirmation. So he opened the sliding glass door and went to grab the plate

Damien came back outside not a moment latter with Shayne’s plate, and Shayne had to admit it looked delicious, and the moment it was in front of him it was in his mouth. Damien sat next to him and alternated between reading in comfortable silence or happily talking to Shayne about anything and everything. And Shayne was.. content. Yeah… he was happy. He loved this. And that’s how they spent their morning until Shayne’s mom came to pick him up.


	2. A “Debate”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A school project and some loving arguments + just some general cuteness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is really late lol, I was on vacation.  
> Next chapter is angst  
> Also I’m 99% sure this is entirely incoherent I’m tired and my beta (blueberrie) Went to bed so I’m on my own lol   
> Feel free to tell me where I messed up lol :D

In eighth grade Damien and Shayne got a reputation for being the two best friends who would always argue about anything and everything but Shayne always insists that they “debate” not argue. They both also got invited to join the debate club, so make of that information what you will. One time one of the friends of the group, Tim, was hanging out with the group and talking to them when Damien and Shayne started arguing

“Damien, I’m telling you, you are **definitely** Mr. Peabody’s favorite!” Shayne started, stating it in a you-can’t-change-my-mind type manner. 

 

“No! Did you see how he put you directly in front of him with the clearly redneck kids? I’m with Tim and Mark Raub. You’re supposed to be like the good influence to them,” Damien shot back.

 

“Every time I come over here you two are always arguing,” Tim laughed as he looked up from his conversation with Wes and Mari to look over at the two boys arguing.

 

“We are not ‘arguing’, Tim, we are  _ debating _ ,” Shayne told him a matter-a-fact-ly as Damien laughed at Shayne’s response. Tim laughed too, as well as rolled his eyes. Shayne giggled seeing Damien laughing at his joke and then made fun of each other and “debated” the rest of the way through lunch.

  
**~**~**~**

 

“Alright, kids, Group project! You all get to pick your own partners. We talked about this yesterday. You’re going to get assigned a chapter of  _ The Illustrated Man  _ by Ray Bradbury. Read it, Make a PowerPoint on it, Then everyone will present their Powerpoints at the end of the week,” Mr. Peabody announced to the class with a clap of his hands as the bell rang signaling the start of 1st period.

 

Shayne turned around in his seat to immediately look to Damien who was sitting at the table behind him. Damien caught Shayne’s eyes and made eye contact and nodded. Damien and Shayne, along with the rest of the class, then waited for Mr. Peabody to stop talking so everyone could bolt out of their seats to group up and move around the room.

 

Finally, Mr. Peabody dismissed the class and immediately there was a flurry of activity around the class room. Shayne turned right around into the seat behind him to sit next to Damien. Mr. Peabody announced over the flurry of movement and noise that he would start handing out chapters in five minutes. 

 

“Howdy, partner!” Shayne announced to his new partner in a poor southern accent with a mimed tip of a hat, “Haven’t seen you in a hot minute.” Damien laughed at how dumb his friend was. Damien ended up getting lost in his thoughts staring at the boy he thinks he would consider his best friend now. Shayne was so happy and excited about this project and he was going on about how amazing it is that they got to choose partners and they ended up getting to work together and they’d have to present and show everyone up. So, Damien was leaning on one arm, staring absently, lost in his friend’s words, a faint smile playing on his lips, Shayne still rambling away. And thats how Mr. Peabody found them. 

 

Mr. Peabody came over and laughed at the look in Damien’s eyes. He knew that look. Those two oblivious kids. He shook his head and laughed. Damien and Shayne were his two favorite students because of how funny they were together, plus the fact he had them in both his first period English and his sixth period Exploratory Literature. 

 

“Alright, boys-,” Mr. Peabody started. He immediately had Shayne’s attention but Damien was still lost in his own world. Mr. Peabody was about to call his name again when Shayne suddenly reached over and shoved the hand Damien was resting his head on out from under him. Mr. Peabody couldn’t help but give a snort at the two students. Damien was immediately alert once his head started falling and then he began looking around wildly. Once his eyes landed on his friend whose face was tomato red, giggling until he was tearing up and gasping for breath.

 

“It wasn’t that funny,” Damien murmured under his breath. 

 

“Alright, boys-“ Mr. Peabody started again, stifling a smile because it really was kinda funny, “Your chapter is ‘ The Exiles’ , Have fun!” Mr. Peabody said, handing the boys a slip of paper that just said “The Exiles” with some page numbers on it. 

 

“Thank you, Mr. Peabody!” The boys both said as the English teacher walked away to the next group.

  
**~**~**~**

“Alright, folks! Good morning! Presentation Day!” Mr. Peabody started the class on Friday. “Who wants to go first?” He clapped, surveying the room. “Shayne and Damien? I saw your PowerPoint and it looked pretty good. Would you two like to go?”

 

Shayne and Damien exchanged a look and Damien spoke for the both of them, “Sure!” 

 

So the two boys went up to the front of the classroom and pulled up their PowerPoint at the front of the classroom, and started on their presentation. Throughout the project they would share looks, and then sometimes if one of the two presented a slide and the other felt they missed out on stuff or had something else to add they would jump in after they finished talking before they changed the slide. They finished the presentation smoothly, without any hinges. Then at the end of presentations, as always in Mr. Peabody’s class, the class gives feedback and constructive criticism on the presentation. So, Damien and Shayne ended their presentation and Mr. Peabody called for notes. One girl in the back of her class and raised her hand, Shayne remembered her from his old elementary school. Mr. Peabody called on the girl.

 

“Monica Vasandani?” Mr. Peabody pointed to the girl with the short black hair that was fidgeting with a pen while raising her hand.

 

“The presentation was for the most part, flawless. You had fluid transitions between slides, everything was organized very well. It was easy to follow, and it was informative,” Monica started, still twiddling a pen in between her pointer and her middle finger, while Damien and Shayne nodded in agreement and thanks, “But, you two did seem to kind of conflict and almost argue throughout the presentation, and almost kind of fought for power in a way,” Monica finished, taking both Damien and Shayne aback. Shayne gave a look of  _ “No we didn’t” _ from behind Damien (as well as saying it out loud, quietly). And Damien could just  _ tell _ what his dumb freakin’ friend was doing and swiveled around on his heels to look at Shayne. Damien gave him a silent look of  _ “We totally did, don’t argue. Feedback is participation credit, chill.”  _ To which Shayne responded with a look of  _ “We don’t argue  _ that _ much.” _ Damien gave Shayne a look of  _ “Really? You’re really gonna say that with a straight face and stand by it?” _ Shayn thought about it and then kind of looked down  _ “No~ You’re right” _ And Damien responded with an almost cocky look that said  _ “Good” _ and turned back around on his heels facing back toward the class.

 

“Did you- ….Did you guys really just have and an entire argument without saying a word?” Monica spoke for the entirety of the either confused, stunned, or a mix of both reactions students of the class.

 

Damien spoke first. ‘I- uh- well, ...Yeah,” he admitted after trying to search for a quick explanation and coming up empty. He could hear Shayne silently chuckling behind him after realizing the situation that had just occurred.

 

Mr. Peabody smirked, “Alright thank you, boys. Good job, you can sit down now. Monica? Would you and Albertine like to go next?” Monica drew her eyes away from the two strange boys and nodded, nudging her girlfriend and gathering her stuff as Shayne and Damien sat down, Damien red in the face from embarrassment and Shayne red from laughing.

 


	3. Chapter 3 - A Car (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never mind Y’all I changed my mind, this is a really big chapter and I really wanna post it already so I’m adding more chapters and separating chapter 3 into 3 or 4 different parts :) So here’s the start of the angst, You’re Welcome

It was a seemingly normal day. Shayne was texting Damien on his way to school. Shayne carpooled with some other neighbors from his street, while Damien rode the bus. Shayne usually arrived right as the school opened and hung out with Damien and his’ friends and then Damien arrived like 10 minutes before school started. It was a typical conversation. Damien usually yelled at Shayne to take better care of himself and Shayne found loopholes to agree with Damien without committing himself. But today Shayne actually had a sleep log from his FitBit, and he had been sleeping a healthy amount, so he was texting Damien and he sent him his sleep logs. All of a sudden Damien stopped responding. Shayne assumed he was just doing other things. Nothing out of the ordinary. So Shayne waited for Damien to arrive at school.

 

 But then the bell rang and Damien was nowhere to be found. So, Shayne went to class without Damien, assuming his bus might’ve just been running late. Now Damien and Shayne shared first period together. So, Shayne was a little confused and worried when Damien still wasn’t in the seat next to Shayne when the bell signaling for 1st period to start rang. But he didn’t have a whole lot of time to dwell on it because they had a final test on  _ The Book Thief  _ by Markus Zusak which they had been doing a book study on for the past month in Mr. Peabody’s class. 

 

Shayne finished the test early and finally they came over the Announcement system saying Damien’s bus was late. So Shayne marked that down as a relief and waited for Damien to come in the door… 

 

But Damien never did. 

 

Damien always liked to be on time, he never skipped class, and he never skipped school. Damien also still hadn’t texted Shayne back. Shayne started to get worried. He kept texting Damien, asking where the heck he was. There might have been more than just one all caps message. 

 

Finally, Shayne got a calm, lowercase reply. 

 

“I got hit.”

“I got hit by a car.”

 

THAT WAS NOT THE RESPONSE SHAYNE WANTED. THERE WAS NO FUN PLAYFUL RESPONSE. WHAT DID HE MEAN HE GOT HIT? WHAT? This situation flipped a switch in Shayne he didn’t realize was there. He suddenly chilled the f**k out

 

“Ok. Where did it hit relative to you?” Shayne wanted to know exactly what happened. He got down to business quick. Shayne awaited Damien’s response anxiously. Luckily he didn’t have to wait too long, Damien texted back pretty quickly.

 

“I don’t know if it directly hit me”

My back is scraped, tore through my jacket and shirt”

My leg hurts”

 

Those were the next texts that came through. Shayne laid his phone down on his desk and put his head in his hands. He pushed his palms into his eyes until he saw stars. He was so glad Damien was ok. Shayne didn’t know what he would have done if he wasn’t. He didn’t even want to think about it. Shayne looked up to see as his phone lit up his phone once more. The next text Damien had sent ripped through Shayne like a bullet

 

“I’m scared shayne”


	4. Chapter 3- A Car (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. Part 2 of Chapter 3. Also! Blueberrie will be writing Chapter 4 from Damien’s perspective!

The last message ripped through Shayne like a bullet

 

Damien was his best friend, even though Shayne wouldn’t admit it out loud. Damien was shy and awkward but Damien wasn’t scared. He was- Damien was- he was strong. Shayne didn’t really know what to do. So he sat there at his desk, tears streaming down his face. He hoped he didn’t get water in his phone but he couldn’t think clearly enough to do anything about it. Maybe it wasn’t always good to be sitting in the front row of the class. 

 

Shayne didn't want to let any of that on to his best friend though and responded quickly.

 

“It will be ok

I promise

Your conscious”

 

Shayne didn’t even realize his grammatical error he usually would’ve fixed but in retrospect that wasn’t the most important thing. 

 

Regardless, Shayne continued through the day in a daze, not really paying any attention in class. It wasn’t like there was any other option for him. His mom wasn’t going to pick him up. Damien was alive, school was important. Rumors continued to circulate with every passing period. Shayne kept his phone under his desk and kept texting Damien through every class. Shayne sat through each class entirely numb. Every kid at school was talking about the three boys that had gotten hit. News spread like wildfire. Shayne didn’t know the two other boys that had gotten hit. Damien knew them though. Ethan and Jake, Damien had told Shayne. They were the year below Shayne and Damien. They had ended up calling Ethan an ambulance and he was rushed to the hospital. Damien and Jake were picked up by their parents and were being driven to the same hospital. 

 

Damien said they were waiting for the bus when the car hit them. The bus was actually right there when the boys were hit. The school ended up letting the kids that were already on the bus, who witnessed the whole thing happen, go home if they wanted to and promised the absences would be excused.

 

Shayne went on through the day until 3rd period Comprehensive Science with 

Ms. Whittle. He decided to grab Damien’s homework for him since he likely wasn’t going to be at school today and Shayne desperately wanted to do something for his friend. He wanted to help in some kind of way. And if he had Damien’s homework maybe he’d get to go see Damien later. So, he went to go talk to Ms. Whittle to see if he could grab Damien’s homework or class work.

 

 Ms. Whittle was a geeky mom to all of her students. She and Mr. Raub ran the game club, which was mostly board games but also some D&D games. Every Tuesday and Thursday that the club was held Ms. Whittle would wear her rainbow assorted dice leggings. Shayne had never played D&D but he appreciated the geekiness. 

 

“Ms. Whittle?” Shayne tentatively walked up to her desk. Ms. Whittle looked up from her computer sweetly.

 

“What’s up, Shayne?” She asked concerned. She seemed to have taken Shayne’s sad and shy disposition into account and leaned in closer expecting what ever he had to say to be a quiet matter. 

 

“Ms. Whittle, um, Damien.. Haas, Damien Hass, was one one of the three kids hit this morning and I was um, I was wondering if I could grab his homework for him?” Shayne rambled and murmured through his request. Ms. Whittle went quiet for a long moment and searched his eyes. Finally, she turned away and grabbed a couple of papers from a cabinet under her desk and slid them across to Shayne. Only then did he realize Ms. Whittle had started crying. 

 

“The directions are on the paper for him. Give Damien my best wishes and I hope he gets better soon,” She spoke quietly, her voice not letting on the same emotion her eyes did. Shayne quietly thanked her and took the papers back to his desk. He decided that some day he would tell Damien how Ms. Whittle had reacted but today was not that day. He didn’t want to upset his friend. Watching his teacher break down into tears almost made him start crying again. Thankfully, he didn’t have too much time to dwell on it because Ms. Whittle addressed the class to give a few more directions and his group had him focused back in on the project at hand.


	5. Chapter 3 - A Car (Part 3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here’s your irregularly scheduled, incredibly short, Part 3! Woo! Also! Surprise! Blueberrie is also going to be writing Part 4 of this Chapter (Chapter 3)! So she will be writing Part 4 of Chapter 3 and all of Chapter 4 from Damien’s POV! Alright now enjoy this tiny, barely-worthy-of-an-entire-Chapter installment 😂

Later that night, Shayne arrived home and told his mother what had happened. He told her everything. She sat with him for a while and listened, and she understood how upset he was. They shared a hug despite not being a very affectionate family and Shayne went to go start on his homework.

 

The entire time he was working he couldn’t focus. He just felt entirely numb. He had shut down since the moment Damien told him what happened. He usually yelled. He laughed. Made jokes to deflect and to cope, but now? Shayne had nothing. He was silent. He had sobered up. 

 

Wes reached out to him later that night. He told Shayne that he, Flitz, and Boze were going to go see Damien at 6. Shayne wanted to go and went to get permission from his mother. He got an affirmative response and texted Wes back that he would come. 

 

He continued his numb state, until his thoughts finally caught him staring absently at the floor. Suddenly the first though he had since he got the text was a gif of Regina George being run over by a bus at the end of  _ Mean Girls _ . Shayne didn’t know whether to laugh at or scold his subconscious. He looked at the clock that read 5:30 and decided neither, that he instead needed to change out of the pajamas he had been doing homework in so he could leave.

 

At precisely 6, a car of three of his friends pulled up to pick him up to take him to Damien’s house. So, Shayne grabbed the homework he had gathered for Damien throughout the day, said bye to his mom, and rushed out the door. 

 

On the way to Damien’s house they discussed what they knew, how they found out, and what they had heard around the school. Turns out Shayne was the very first person Damien texted. Shayne wouldn’t admit it but he couldn’t help loving that fact just a little. They had started to look up news articles that had been written about the event when all too soon and simultaneously not soon enough, they arrived at Damien’s house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you enjoyed or whatever, I spend way too much time refreshing a03 looking to see if anyone commented lol


	6. A Car - Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My, my. This chapter is written from Damien’s perspective, and was written by our very own blueberrie!

Damien’s phone buzzed with a text from Shayne. Flipping his phone over, he laughed at the “here” text and rushed to the door.  He pulled the door open, grinning when he saw four of his absolute favorite people standing on the doorstep.

“Hey guys,” he said, forgetting, just for a second, the reason they were here and simply enjoying the sight of them.

All of a sudden one of the figures rushed forwards and Shayne wrapped his arms around his friend. He tightened his grip, ignoring his blurring eyesight and the lump in his throat.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” the whisper hitching in his throat.

Damien blinked quickly. “Me too,”

They stayed like that for a few moments, just appreciating the there-ness of each other, until they were jolted to the present by a wolf-whistle from behind them. Boze pulled her fingers out of her mouth, grinning.

“So I’m glad you two lovebirds have finally come to your senses and come to terms with your feelings in the wake of this devastating and traumatic experience, but it’s cold out here. Can we come in?”

Damien wiped his eyes again, blushing. “No, it’s not like- yes you can- but we’re not-“

His friends pushed their way inside and gave him their own hugs. Wes made sure to “offer his congratulations to the newlyweds,” but that was nothing new.

“Are you okay, dude?” Flitz asked, shooting him a quick look.

_ No, not really. _ “Yeah, of course. I made it out the best of everyone,” Damien’s face naturally reverted to a smile, unsure of what else to do.

Conversation drifted away, and he and his friends spent the rest of the night in a sort of dance around the house, conversation as flighty as their minds, never quite addressing the situation in front of them but just being there for each other when they need it.

 

Later that night, after everyone had gone home, Damien lay in his bed staring up at his ceiling. Despite how much he’d said that he would be okay, he was scared. In the day, you can distract. You can ignore the fact that if not for a couple of inches, you wouldn't be here now. You can avoid reliving a living nightmare, but at night, you can’t ignore it. Your brain goes off on its own, it fixated and tries to process even if you don’t want to.

Even if you can’t.

 

The nightstand vibrated and his phone turned on, illuminating the ceiling. Damien rolled over and opened the text.

Shayne: “hey, dude… this evening, was that okay? hugging you? i know it was out of the blue, and not something i usually do, but i don’t know, I was really worried about you and im so glad you’re okay”

Damien tapped out a quick reply.

“Of course, it’s okay. It kinda made my day- I mean, you didn’t have much competition.”

“really?”

“Yeah, of course. Are you okay?”

“i really should be asking you that”

“But I did first”

The shadows seemed to creep back a little, lit up by the screen of his phone. Damien relaxed into the conversation, the old patterns and familiar jokes.

It still hurt, everything hurt. His neck was sore and his leg ached. He hadn’t told anyone about that, but right now, he didn’t mind.

It was going to be okay, it was all going to be okay.

 


	7. Chapter 4- A Homecoming Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shane isn’t quite enjoying homecoming like Damien is. But, tolerance is virtue than Shane has mastered.... for the most part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRY   
> ITS LATE I KNOW   
> BLUEBERRIE WROTE ALL OF IT  
> I INSERTED LINES HERE AND THERE   
> I THOUGHT SHE POSTED IT  
> I REALIZED TWO MONTHS LATER SHE DOES NOT NOR HAS ANY INTEREST IN OBTAINING ACCESS TO THIS   
> AND I HAVENT WRITTEN MY CHAPTER YET SOOOOOO

Homecoming. A legendary time for any highschooler… even a socially awkward one with few romantic interests and overprotective parents. Damien hadn’t put much thought into the dance in general- he couldn’t dance, for one- but his friends cajolled him into buying a ticket.

“Come on dude, this’ll be fun,” Shayne pulled at Damien’s arm as he tried to step out of the line. “I promise, as soon as you feel uncomfortable, we’ll leave. Deal?”

Damien nodded.

“Hey, look, do you want to come over to my house beforehand, and then my parents can drive us to the school?”

Damien looked up. “Um, sure. Let me ask my mom when I get home,”

“Cool,”

The ticket line slowly inched forwards, and the boys collected their tickets and made their way back to the lunch table.

Wes laughed. “Wow, you got him to buy a ticket? I’m impressed. Tell me, what are your methods? Blackmail? Bribery?”

Damien rolled his eyes and leaned into his friend.

Shayne wrapped his arm around his friend and smiled.

 

* * *

 

Shayne wasn’t pouting. He wasn’t! This just wasn’t his scene. 

He kept thinking about how Homecoming was one of  _ those  _ times. Someone was going to get drunk or high or something- despite being in high school- and they were going to get taken advantage of. He couldn’t help but think that every girl (and even some guys, Shayne was woke) that passed by him were a potential target or victim. 

He couldn’t help but see everyone passing and feel like he could do something but he was powerless because he knew he was being irrational and-

 ARGH. 

It was a vicious cycle. 

 

There were two areas that were set up for Homecoming. One of the areas was the gym and the other was outside in the amphitheater. The area in the gym was dark except for some colored lights lined against the two longer walls that were hidden behind sheer white curtains. It felt like 100 degrees Fahrenheit in there and the gym was about 115 feet long and 25 feet wide. Shayne had never been to a rave before but a rave felt like the best way to describe the environment. A mob of probably hundreds of kids encroached in on the DJ booth that was blasting music that was  _ definitely _ above a safe decibel level even from 100 feet away. But, thankfully, Shayne’s group of friends were all in the amphitheater.  

 

The amphitheater was much quieter and instead of playing music that was vulgar, loud, and honestly plain concerning, the amphitheater DJ played songs like Macerena and Cotton Eyed Joe mixed with the occasional slow songs to create a perfect mix that made the fine arts kids perfectly happy. Fine arts kids are weird...

The amphitheater was outside so there was wind- a stark contrast to the stifling suffocation of the gym. 

 

Shayne had been fine with them for a while, even if he wasn’t in the mood and his irrational thoughts were getting to him. And Shayne did love music. He was musically minded and could memorize songs quickly and remember them almost perfectly for longer than most. He always listened to music when he slept, there was always music playing in his room, from the time he was a newborn. But then one of those songs came on.

 

Shayne was a smart kid. He wasn’t the most book smart but he was the most intuitive. He was mentally mature beyond his age and often deemed “an old soul”. But being smart isn’t always helpful. 

 

When Shayne was a child, his parents had given him access to the computer. The computer linked to the internet. The  unmonitored internet.

Shayne has been in fifth grade. He had questions. He had ended up in corners of the internet that no one- no one should’ve ever ended up on.

It had gone on for months before his parents had found out. By then, it was too late.

No one knew the full extent.

 

* * *

  
  


Damien glanced around, startled. “Wait- where’d he go?”

No one heard him. They were all off in their own worlds, swaying to the music, faces lost to blissful expressions.

He caught Sohinki’s eye. “Where’s Shayne?”

Sohinki shrugged.

Damien scanned the crowd again, before catching sight of a blond head disappearing behind a row of bushes.

“Shayne!” he called, taking off.

He stopped quickly, turning back to Sohinki.

“I’ll be back. Wait- do you still have Shayne’s phone?”

“Yes?”

“Dang it,”

Damien ran around the corner, narrowly avoiding colliding with the owner of the blonde hair he had been pursuing. The girl gave him a dirty look, and, realizing his mistake, Damien took off again.

He directed himself towards the gym, where the other three quarters of the population had taken root, swaying in close proximity to each other, sweating and screaming. The lights strobed across the large room, and people pressed in around him.

This isn’t where he would go.

Damien turned around and pushed against the crowd to get back outside. Couples sat around in corners, quietly talking or cuddling or kissing, and groups of friends posed along the brick walls. He walked back towards the amphitheater, in hopes that Shayne had returned. His friends were right where he had left them, swaying and laughing and jostling around in the crowd, but the familiar blonde head was nowhere to be seen.

No.

This couldn’t be happening.

Damien turned around, rushed to the middle of the courtyard again, searching, for anyone that could help.

“Monica!”

She turned.

“Have you seen Shayne anywhere?”

“No, why? Is he okay?”

Damien hesitated.

“No,”

Monica stopped and came over to him, looking concerned. “What’s wrong?”   
“I don’t know, he just took off. He’d been worried all evening, and I don’t know if something happened, or if he’s okay…”

Damien’s voice trailed off as a panicked feeling rose up in him. A panicked feeling that he had been perfectly successful at pushing down until those words came out.

If something was wrong, if Shayne wasn’t okay- it was his fault. He was the one who hadn’t listened.

A hand hesitantly touched his back.

He spun around, backing away and covering his face before he realized who it was.

“Shayne!”

His friend smiled sheepishly. “Hey,”

Monica smiled and stepped back. “Okay, I’m going to back to dance. I’m glad you found him,”

Damien nodded, distracted but appreciative.

“Dude, where were you? You scared me,”

“I’m sorry- I had to go. That song that came on- that song isn’t good for me. It’s one of the ones…”

He trailed off.

Suddenly Damien understood.

“Oh.

Shayne.

Are you okay?”

His friend shrugged.

Damien reached out.

“Do you mind?”

Shayne shrugged again.

Damien wrapped his arms around his friend in a hug, the music suddenly all around him. He should’ve realized.

Shayne pulled back.

“I’m sorry I disappeared so quickly. I just had to go, I thought maybe the gym would drown everything out, but then everyone was pressing in, and the music was so loud, and-”

He stopped again.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m here now, okay?”

A nod.

“Are you ready to go back?”

Another shrug.   
“Come on, let’s go. Everyone’s going to be worried by now,”

He took his friend by the hand, aware of the contact and of everyone that could be watching, but also of the fact that his friend’s hand was so soft, and that Shayne was safe now.

They wove back into the dance floor, to the track of an old love song.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Wes brought it up at lunch the next week.

“So, how’s the happy couple?”   
“It’s never going to happen, Wes,” Shayne said, not even looking up from his paper.

“Oh come on, we all saw it. Prince Charming over here, running off to save his damsel in distress. You know you guys didn’t have to elope, we accept all relationships in this circle.”

Damien rolled his eyes.


End file.
